The Great Trial Stakes was an American
Thoroughbred horse race
Thoroughbred racing is a sport and industry involving the racing of Thoroughbred horses. It is governed by different national bodies. There are two forms of the sport – flat racing and jump racing, the latter known as National Hunt racing in ...
held annually at
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Sheepshead Bay Race Track was an American Thoroughbred horse racing facility built on the site of the Coney Island Jockey Club at Sheepshead Bay, New York.
Early history
The racetrack was built by a group of prominent businessmen from the New Yo ...
in
Sheepshead Bay, Brooklyn
Sheepshead Bay is a neighborhood in southern Brooklyn, New York City. It is bounded by Ocean Parkway to the west; Avenue T and Kings Highway to the north; Nostrand Avenue and Gerritsen Avenue to the east; and the Atlantic Ocean to the south. S ...
,
New York
New York most commonly refers to:
* New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York
* New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States
New York may also refer to:
Film and television
* '' ...
from 1891 through 1910 and for 1913 at
Belmont Park
Belmont Park is a major thoroughbred horse racing facility in the northeastern United States, located in Elmont, New York, just east of the New York City limits. It was opened on May 4, 1905.
It is operated by the non-profit New York Racin ...
in
Elmont, New York
Elmont is an unincorporated hamlet and census-designated place (CDP) located in northwestern Hempstead in Nassau County, New York, United States, along its border with the borough of Queens in New York City. The population was 35,265 at the ...
. Raced on dirt, it was run at a distance of 5¾ furlongs from 1891 through 1900 and then at 6 furlongs. Run in late June or early July, for most of its years at Sheepshead Bay the Great Trial Stakes was the most valuable race for two-year-olds during the track's summer meet.
Historical notes
The Great Trial Stakes attracted the top two-year-olds including ten who would earn
American Champion Two-Year-Old honors.
Domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
(1893),
Commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
(1900) and
Colin (1907) won the race and would go on to be named that year's
American Horse of the Year
The American Award for Horse of the Year, one of the Eclipse Awards, is the highest honor given in American thoroughbred horse racing. Because Thoroughbred horse racing in the United States has no governing body to sanction the various awards, "Hor ...
. It is such a rare feat for a two-year-old to earn Horse of the Year honors that from 1908 through 2018 it has been accomplished only four times:
*
Native Dancer
Native Dancer (March 27, 1950 – November 16, 1967), nicknamed the ''Gray Ghost'', was one of the most celebrated and accomplished Thoroughbred racehorses in American history and was the first horse made famous through the medium of television. ...
(1952)
*
Moccasin
A moccasin is a shoe, made of deerskin or other soft leather, consisting of a sole (made with leather that has not been "worked") and sides made of one piece of leather, stitched together at the top, and sometimes with a vamp (additional panel o ...
(1965)
*
Secretariat
Secretariat may refer to:
* Secretariat (administrative office)
* Secretariat (horse)
Secretariat (March 30, 1970 – October 4, 1989), also known as Big Red, was a champion American thoroughbred horse racing, racehorse who is the ninth winne ...
(1972)
*
Favorite Trick
Favorite Trick (April 20, 1995 – June 6, 2006) was an American Thoroughbred racehorse who in 1997 became the first 2-year-old in twenty-five years to be voted United States Horse of the Year.
Bred at Wintergreen Farm in Midway, Kentucky by Ma ...
(1997)
A July 1, 1908 ''
Daily Racing Form
The ''Daily Racing Form'' (DRF) (referred to as the ''Racing Form'' or "Form" and sometimes "telegraph" or "telly") is a tabloid newspaper founded in 1894 in Chicago, Illinois, by Frank Brunell. The paper publishes the past performances of race ...
'' article reported on the dominance of
John Madden
John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, who he led to eight pla ...
in this event who won this race seven times as the trainer and breeder plus he was the owner of five of those winners as well as a minority partner of 1903 winner Pulsus.
The 1911–1912 statewide shutdown of horse racing
On June 11, 1908, the
Republican
Republican can refer to:
Political ideology
* An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law.
** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...
-controlled
New York Legislature
The New York State Legislature consists of the two houses that act as the state legislature of the U.S. state of New York: The New York State Senate and the New York State Assembly. The Constitution of New York does not designate an official t ...
under
Governor
A governor is an administrative leader and head of a polity or political region, ranking under the head of state and in some cases, such as governors-general, as the head of state's official representative. Depending on the type of political ...
Charles Evans Hughes
Charles Evans Hughes Sr. (April 11, 1862 – August 27, 1948) was an American statesman, politician and jurist who served as the 11th Chief Justice of the United States from 1930 to 1941. A member of the Republican Party, he previously was the ...
passed the
Hart–Agnew anti-betting legislation. The owners of Sheepshead Bay Race Track, and other racing facilities in New York State, struggled to stay in business without income from betting. Racetrack operators had no choice but to drastically reduce the
purse money
A purse is a small bag that may refer to:
* Coin purse, small pouch made for carrying coins
* Handbag, in American English
* Money bag
* Wallet
Purse may also refer to:
* Purse (horse racing), the total amount of money paid out to the owners o ...
being paid out, which resulted in the Great Trial Stakes offering a purse in 1909 that was less than one-tenth of what it had been a year earlier. These small purses made horse racing unprofitable and impossible for even the most successful horse owners to continue in business. As such, for the 1910 racing season, management of the Sheepshead Bay facility dropped some of its minor stakes races and used the purse money to bolster its most important events. Even with additional funding, the Great Trial Stakes of 1910 was little more than one-third of what it had been in 1908.
In spite of strong opposition by prominent owners such as
August Belmont, Jr.
August Belmont Jr. (February 18, 1853 – December 10, 1924) was an American financier. He financed the construction of the early history of the IRT subway, original New York City subway (1900–1904) and for many years headed the Interborough R ...
and
Harry Payne Whitney
Harry Payne Whitney (April 29, 1872 – October 26, 1930) was an American businessman, thoroughbred horse breeder, and member of the prominent Whitney family.
Early years
Whitney was born in New York City on April 29, 1872, as the eldest son ...
, reform legislators were not happy when they learned that betting was still going on at racetracks between individuals, and they had further restrictive legislation passed by the New York Legislature in 1910. Recorded as the Executive Liability Act, the legislation made it possible for racetrack owners and members of its
board of directors
A board of directors (commonly referred simply as the board) is an executive committee that jointly supervises the activities of an organization, which can be either a for-profit or a nonprofit organization such as a business, nonprofit organiz ...
to be fined and imprisoned if anyone was found betting, even privately, anywhere on their premises. After a 1911 amendment to the law to limit the liability of owners and directors was defeated, every racetrack in New York State shut down. As a result, the Great Trial Stakes was not run in 1911 and 1912.
Owners, whose horses of racing age had nowhere to go, began sending them, their trainers and their jockeys to race in England and France. Many horses ended their racing careers there, and a number remained to become an important part of the European
horse breeding
Horse breeding is reproduction in horses, and particularly the human-directed process of selective breeding of animals, particularly purebred horses of a given breed. Planned matings can be used to produce specifically desired characteristics in ...
industry. ''
Thoroughbred Times
The Thoroughbred is a horse breed best known for its use in horse racing. Although the word ''thoroughbred'' is sometimes used to refer to any breed of purebred horse, it technically refers only to the Thoroughbred breed. Thoroughbreds are con ...
'' reported that more than 1,500 American horses were sent overseas between 1908 and 1913, and of them at least 24 were either past, present, or future
Champions
A champion (from the late Latin ''campio'') is the Victory, victor in a challenge, Competition, contest or competition. There can be a territorial pyramid of championships, e.g. local, regional / provincial, state, national, continental and w ...
. When a February 21, 1913 ruling by the
New York Supreme Court, Appellate Division
The Appellate Divisions of the Supreme Court of the State of New York are the intermediate appellate courts in New York State.
There are four Appellate Divisions, one in each of the state's four Judicial Departments (e.g., the full title of the ...
Court saw horse racing return in 1913, it was too late for the Sheepshead Bay horse racing facility, and it never reopened. However, the race was run for one final time at Belmont Park on June 30, 1913.
Great Trial Stakes winners who became the year's
Champion Two-Year-Old:
*
Blue Girl
Blue Girl (1899–1919) was an American Thoroughbred racemare that was the Champion 2 and 3-year old female in 1901 and 1902, respectively.
Pedigree
Blue Girl was bred in Kentucky by the Ezekiel Clay & Catesby Woodford breeding partnership and ...
( 1901)
*
Colin (1907)
*
Commando
Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin">40_Commando.html" ;"title="Royal Marines from 40 Commando">Royal Marines from 40 Commando on patrol in the Sangin area of Afghanistan are pictured
A commando is a combatant, or operativ ...
(1900)
*
Dalmatian (1909)
*
Domino
Dominoes is a family of tile-based games played with gaming pieces, commonly known as dominoes. Each domino is a rectangular tile, usually with a line dividing its face into two square ''ends''. Each end is marked with a number of spots (also ca ...
(1893)
*
Hamburg
(male), (female) en, Hamburger(s),
Hamburgian(s)
, timezone1 = Central (CET)
, utc_offset1 = +1
, timezone1_DST = Central (CEST)
, utc_offset1_DST = +2
, postal ...
(1897)
*
His Highness
Highness (abbreviation HH, oral address Your Highness) is a formal style (manner of address), style used to address (in grammatical person, second person) or refer to (in grammatical person, third person) certain members of a reigning or formerl ...
(1891)
*
Irish Lad (1902)
*
Jean Bereaud
Jean Bereaud (1896 – November 15, 1908) was an American Thoroughbred Champion racehorse best known for winning an 1899 American Classic Race, the Belmont Stakes.
Background
He was bred by the partnership of David Gideon and John Daly a ...
(1898)
*
Sir Martin
Sir Martin (1906–1930) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was foaled in 1906 in Lexington, Kentucky at Hamburg Place, the stud farm of noted turfman and horse trainer John E. Madden.Daily Racing Form January 27, 1920./ref> Sir Martin was a hal ...
(1908)
Career Championships & honors of Great Trial Stakes winners:
Blue Girl:
* Co-Champion Two-Year-Old Female (1901)
* Champion Three-Year-Old Female (1902)
Colin:
* Champion Two-Year-Old Male (1907)
* Horse of the Year (1907, 1908)
* Champion Three-Year-Old Male (1908
*
Racing Hall of Fame(1956)
Commando:
* Champion Two-Year-Old Male (1900)
* Horse of the Year (1900, 1901)
* Champion Three-Year-Old Male (1901)
*
Leading sire in North America The list below shows the leading sire of Thoroughbred racehorses in North America for each year since 1830. This is determined by the amount of prize money won by the sire's progeny during the year. It is restricted to stallions which are based in N ...
(1907)
* Racing Hall of Fame (1956)
Domino:
* Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1893)
* Horse of the Year (1893)
* Racing Hall of Fame (1955)
Hamburg:
* Champion Two-Year-Old Colt (1897)
* Horse of the Year (1898)
* Racing Hall of Fame (1986)
Records
Speed record:
* 1:12.00 –
Sir Martin
Sir Martin (1906–1930) was a Thoroughbred racehorse that was foaled in 1906 in Lexington, Kentucky at Hamburg Place, the stud farm of noted turfman and horse trainer John E. Madden.Daily Racing Form January 27, 1920./ref> Sir Martin was a hal ...
(1908) 6 F.
* 1:10.20 – Winged Foot (1896) 5 ¾ F.
Most wins by a
jockey
A jockey is someone who rides horses in horse racing or steeplechase racing, primarily as a profession. The word also applies to camel riders in camel racing. The word "jockey" originated from England and was used to describe the individual ...
:
* 2 –
Edward Garrison (1893, 1894)
* 2 –
Walter Miller (1906, 1907)
Most wins by a
trainer:
* 7 –
John E. Madden
John Edward Madden (December 28, 1856 – November 3, 1929) was a prominent American Thoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky ...
(1897, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908)
Most wins by an owner:
* 6 –
John E. Madden
John Edward Madden (December 28, 1856 – November 3, 1929) was a prominent American Thoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky ...
(1897, 1899, 1901, 1903, 1904, 1908)
Most wins by a breeder:
* 7 –
John E. Madden
John Edward Madden (December 28, 1856 – November 3, 1929) was a prominent American Thoroughbred and Standardbred owner, breeder and trainer in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century. He owned Hamburg Place Stud in Lexington, Kentucky ...
(1897, 1899, 1901, 1902, 1903, 1904, 1908)
Winners
References
{{Reflist
Discontinued horse races in New York City
Flat horse races for two-year-olds
Sheepshead Bay Race Track
Belmont Park
Recurring sporting events established in 1891
Recurring sporting events disestablished in 1913
1891 establishments in New York (state)
1913 disestablishments in New York (state)